Apparatus for making a continuous tobacco filler



(Dc-L 16, M56 D. W. MQLnNs ETAL 2,766,758

APPARATUS FOR MAKING A CONTINUOUS TOBACCO FILLER 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Original Filed Oct. 23, 1950 /Nl ENTORS ATTORNEY;

Oct. 16, 1956 D. w. MOLINS ET AL 2,766,758

APPARATUS FOR MAKING A CONTINUOUS TOBACCO FILLER Original Filed 0ct 23. 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 /NVENTO/2s ATTORNE Y6 APPARATUS FOR MAKHQG A CONTINUOUS TOBACCO FILLER Desmond Walter Molins and Felix Frederic Ruau, Deptford, London, England, assignors to Molins Machine Company Limited, London, England, a British com- P y Application September 29, 1955, Serial No. 537,509

Claims priority, application Great Britain November 4, 1949 6 Claims. (Cl. 13184) This invention concerns improvements in or relating to an apparatus for making a continuous tobacco filler on a cigarette-making machine of the continuous rod type. This application is a continuation of our prior application, Serial No. 191,608, filed October 23, 1950, now abandoned.

In such machines it is customary to shower tobacco on to a travelling surface, such as an endless moving canvas band, so as to form a stream of loose tobacco which is subsequently pasesd through rod-forming mechanism in which a paper web is folded and secured about the tobacco filler to form a cigarette rod. The loose tobacco stream formed on the travelling surface is often found to be irregular in that the quantity of tobacco varies from point to point. The faster the travelling surface moves beneath the shower, the greater is the tendency to irrgularity in the stream collected on the surface from the shower. Thus when the speed of the cigarette-making machine is increased, if the speed of the travelling surface beneath the shower is correspondingly increased the stream tends to become more irregular,

According to the present invention there is provided in a continuous rod cigarette making machine, apparatus for forming a tobacco filler, comprising a first conveyor arranged to receive tobacco showered thereon and to feed it forwardly as a stream, a second conveyor arranged to continue the forward feeding of the stream and to move faster than the first conveyor, and means to transfer the stream from the first to the second conveyor, said last named means comprising a rotatable member having tobacco engaging parts arranged to engage tobacco coming from the first conveyor and to urge said tobacco toward the second conveyor, the said rotatable member being arranged to rotate at a speed such that its tobacco engaging parts move at substantially the same speed as-the said second conveyor and thereby accelerate tobacco to substantially the speed of the said second conveyor.

Apparatus according to the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation, partly in section of the apparatus.

Figure 2 is a plan of part of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a section of Figure 1 on the line 3-3.

Figure 4 is a side elevation of a guide.

Figure 5 is a view of part of Figure 4 in the direction of the arrows 5-5.

The apparatus shown is in certain respects similar to that disclosed in our United States Patent No. 2,671,452, granted March 9, 1954. In the machine according to that patent, parts whereof are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, tobacco, showered from a hopper 1, is collected on a travelling surface 2 as a stream and is passed through a confining passage 3 and delivered to a paper web 4 which moves at a slower speed than the travelling surface on to which the tobacco is showered, the latter surface being that of a conveyor band which is arranged Patented Oct. 16, 1956 2 to move 40% faster than the paper web. Due to this dilference between the speeds of the conveyor and the paper web, the moving tobacco stream is subjected to a reduction of speed and is thereby compacted or closed up endwise so as to improve the uniformity of the tobacco filler.

Such a construction is found to give good results when producing cigarettes at rates up to about 1,000 per minute, but when the machine is speeded up to higher rates of production, for example l3001500 cigarettes per minute, the cigarettes produced are found to be less satisfactory in that their individual weights tend to be less uniform.

If, however, it is desired to take advantage of endwise compacting of the tobacco stream by this considerable speed difference while at the same time increasing the production speed of the machine, it becomes more difficult as the speed increases to collect a uniform stream of tobacco from the shower because the conveyor on which the tobacco is showered moves at such a high speed (which as mentioned above is 40% faster than the paper web speed) that serious irregularities occur in the stream. While the endwise compacting of the tobacco is in itself very effective in improving the uniformity of the filler, it will be apparent that better results can be obtained by endwise compacting of a stream which is already fairly uniform before compacting takes place.

By means of the present invention, however, the problem is largely overcome, while the advantages of endwise compacting of the stream by means of the considerable speed difference mentioned are still obtained.

In the construction according to the present invention tobacco is showered from the hopper as above explained onto the band 2 which is a fiat endless canvas or cotton band (of the type generally referred to as a tobacco tape) which is arranged to run horizontally in a trough 5 beneath the hopper to provide a travelling surface to re ceive the shower, and which will for convenience be referred to as the first conveyor. The tobacco tape passes rearwardly over a roller 6 at the end of its horizontal run, and beyond this is a short bridge piece 7 which slopes downwardly towards a second conveyor 8 which latter commences a little below the level of the first conveyor and is for a short distance slightly inclined upwardly in the direction of its movement, and then passes over a roller 9 and slopes forwardly and downwardly. The second conveyor, which is also an endless canvas or cotton band, is arranged to move faster than the first conveyor, for example 1.4 times as fast as the first conveyor.

The sloping portion of the second conveyor forms part of the bottom wall of the sloping passage 3 which is generally similar in construction to the sloping passage described and illustrated in United States Patent No. 2,671,452, except that in the present construction the sloping portion of the second conveyor 8 is substituted for the sloping portion 2A of the tobacco tape 2 in the patent referred to. Side guides 10 are provided to form m'de walls of the passage, and the lower part of the bottom wall of the passage consists of 'a steel plate 11 and the upper wall of the passage consists of the lower run of an endless flexible steel band 12 with a highly polished outer surface. In the present construction the steel band is arranged to move at a speed faster than the second conveyor 8. The lower part of the sloping passage is the same as that disclosed in United States Patent No. 2,671,452 and its arrangement relative to the cigarette paper web 4 is the same as in the said specification. Suitable side guides 13 and 13D forming continuations of the upper ends of the side walls of the sloping passage, are provided to guide and confine the tobacco stream laterally as it is carried lengthwise by the first conveyor and the upwardly inclined part of the second conveyor.

Above the bridge piece 7 between the first and second conveyors is a rotatable wheel device 14. This is provided with finger-like elements 15 spaced around the periphery of the wheel. As shown, these elements are like:the teeth of sprocket wheels. The wheel has two rings of such teeth arranged side by side. The wheel is arranged to be rotated in the direction of the arrow so that the finger-like elements passing through the path of the tobacco move in the general direction in which the tobacco stream is carried by the first conveyor 2.

As mentioned above, the second conveyor commences a little below the level of the first conveyor, and is slightly inclined upwardly for a short distance beyond the bridge-piece, which latter is arranged so as to slope downwardly from the first to the second conveyor. The purpose of this arrangement is to provide, in the tobaccosupp-orting and conveying surfaces, a slight recess or dip into which the elements on the rotatable wheel can move, thus increasing the distance over which the pins can engage the tobacco.

Pressing elements are located above the tobacco so as to press down lightly on the tobacco as the latter is engaged by the movable elements. The pressing elements shown consist of three resilient cantilever springs 16 arranged as fingers, which may be made of piano wire or any other suitable material and which are so arranged as to extend above and lengthwise of the tobacco stream in' the region where the latter passes from the first to the second conveyor, and resiliently press down upon the tobacco stream, the fingers being so spaced apart that the sets of rotatable elements can pass between them.

The pressing elements 16 are supported above the tobacco stream, and curve downwardly between the elements 15 towards the tobacco in the direction of movement of the stream, as shown in Figure l, with the free ends of the fingers pressing down slightly on the tobacco and pointing in the said direction of movement. The fingers 16 are mounted on a block 16a which is grooved to receive the rear ends of the fingers, which are bent about the block as shown in Figure l. The rear ends of the fingers are soldered :or brazed into the grooves in the block 16a.

The tobacco stream which is formed on the first conveyor 2 by showering tobacco from the hopper is carried lengthwise and passes beneath the fingers 16 of the press ing element and beneath the wheel device 14 whose elements move between the fingers of the pressing element and enter into the tobacco and positively engage and accelerate successive portions :of the stream, thus in effect obtaining a reasonably uniform elongation of the stream of tobacco.

The wheel device is rotated at such a speed that the tobacco-engaging ends of the finger-like elements move at about the same speed as the second conveyor 3. The rotating elements thus assist the tobacco in its transfer from the slow first conveyor 2 over the bridge piece 7 and on to the faster moving second conveyor 8.

The tobacco is carried by the smond conveyor into and through the sloping passage 3, and is thereafter delivered from the passage on to the paper web 4 as a loose filler, in a manner similar to that described in United States Patent No. 2,671,452 referred to above. Due to the difference in speed between the second conveyor and the third convey-or which carries the paper web, the speed of the tobacco is reduced and the stream is therefore caused to close up at its more sparse portions, thus improving its uniformity.

The filler is carried by the paper web beneath a tongue of usual construction and not shown, which compresses the tiller to reduce it to the desired cross-sectional size, whereafter the paper web is folded about it and secured in the usual manner to form a continuous cigarette rod which is cut into cigarette lengths. V

ltwill be seen that by means of the invention it is possible'to employ a method of reducing the speed'of the-tobacco stream to improve its uniformity,- such as that 4 as disclosed in United States Patent No. 2,671,452 and nevertheless to run the first conveyor at a relatively low speed, which in the present example is the same as that of the paper web, without reducing the rate of output of the machine.

In the construction so far described, the side guides for the tobacco could be the same distance apart throughout, so that the width of the loose filler delivered on to the paper web is the same as that of the stream fed by the first conveyor.

In the construction shown which will now be described with reference also to Figures 4 and 5, the walls of the side guides 16 which form continuations of the side walls of the sloping passage are arranged closer together at the outlet end than the side guides of the trough S for the tobacco on the first conveyor. To effect this each of the guides 13, see particularly Figures 4 and 5, is cut back at the part 13A and joins the full-thickness part 13B by a bevel 13C. From Figure 2 it can be seen how this shaping or" the guides reduces the width of the passage for the stream. The purpose of this arrangement is to reduce the width of the stream so that the tobacco is delivered to the paper web as a loose filler which is of a more suitable width for feeding beneath the tongue, while at the same time a relatively wide stream can be formed on the first conveyor. The parts are arranged so that the reduction in the width of the stream occurs at the region where the tobacco is accelerated by the finger-like elements of the rotating wheel. The parts of the side guides 13 which form side guides for the upwardly inclined portion of the second conveyor are set the same distance apart as the sidewalls of the sloping passage 3 and extend back as far as the rotatable wheel 14, their surfaces being suitably beveled so as to lead outwardly to the side guides for the first conveyor, which latter guides are arranged further apart than the side walls of the passage 3. Thus the tobacco, as it passes beneath the rotatable wheel, is moved positively by the elements of the rotatable wheel and in this way carried past the neck formed by the bevelled surfaces. Thus the narrowing of the stream takes place while the stream is being engaged and accelerated by the finger-like elements of the rotatable wheel.

What we claim as our invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a continuous rod cigarette making machine, apparatus for forming a tobacco. filler, comprising a first conveyor arranged to receive tobacco showered thereon and to feed it forwardly as a stream, a second conveyor arranged to continue the forward feeding of the stream and to move faster than the first conveyor, and means to transfer the stream from the first to the second conveyor,

said last named means comprising a rotatable member having tobacco engaging parts arranged to engage tobacco coming from .the first conveyor and to urge said tobacco toward the second conveyor, and the said rotatable member being arranged to rotate at a speed such that its tobacco engaging par-ts move at substantially the same speed as the said second conveyor and thereby accelerate tobacco to substantially the speed of the said second conveyor.

2. Ina continuous rod cigarette making machine, apparatus for forming a tobacco filler, comprising a first conveyor arranged to receive tobacco showered thereon and to convey it lengthwise as a stream, a second conveyor arranged to move faster than the first conveyor and to continue the forward feeding of the stream, a third conveyor arranged to move slower than the said second conveyor and to receive tobacco from said second conveyor, and means to assist in transferring tobacco from the first conveyor to the second conveyor, said last named means comprising a rotatable member having peripheral that the said projections while engaging tobacco move in the same general direction as and at substantially the same speed as that of the second conveyor so as to accelerate tobacco so engaged to substantially the speed of the second conveyor.

3. In a continuous rod cigarette making machine, apparatus for forming a tobacco filler, comprising a first conveyor arranged to receive tobacco showered thereon and to convey it lengthwise as a relatively wide stream, a second conveyor arranged to move faster than the first conveyor and to receive tobacco coming from the first conveyor and to convey it lengthwise as a stream narrower than the stream formed on the first conveyor, means to engage tobacco coming from the first conveyor, said means being arranged to move at substantially the speed of the second conveyor while engaging said tobacco, and means to reduce the width of the stream formed on the first conveyor to that of the stream conveyed by the second conveyor.

4. In a continuous rod cigarette making machine, a confining passage for tobacco, a fast conveyor to feed a tobacco stream lengthwise into one end of the said passage, means to remove said tobacco from the other end of the said passage at a lower speed than that at which the tobacco is fed into the passage, whereby the tobacco has its speed reduced in the confining passage, a slow conveyor to receive tobacco showered thereon and to convey it as a stream moving lengthwise, and means to transfer the tobacco stream from the slow conveyor to the fast conveyor while increasing the speed of the tobacco to that of the fast conveyor, said last named means comprising a transfer member located adjacent the path of tobacco moving from the slow conveyor to the fast conveyor, and said transfer member having parts which are arranged for movement in the general direc tion of movement of tobacco in said path, and which are arranged to engage tobacco moving in said path, and while so engaging tobacco, to move at substantially the same speed as that of the said fast conveyor.

5. In a continuous rod cigarette making machine, a conveyor to receive tobacco showered so as to form a stream thereon, and to feed said stream forwardly, a further conveyor to receive the said stream and feed it forwardly, said further conveyor being arranged to move faster than the first said conveyor, and transfer means comprising a rotatable member located above said further conveyor and having peripheral parts, said member being arranged for rotation in a direction and at a speed such that said peripheral parts move in the general direction of, and at substantially the same speed as that of the said further conveyor, and the said member being so disposed that the said peripheral parts are capable of engaging and accelerating successive portions of a stream of tobacco which is passing from the first said conveyor onto the said further conveyor.

6. In a continuous rod cigarette making machine, a conveyor to receive tobacco showered so as to form a stream thereon, and to convey said stream lengthwise, a further conveyor arranged to move faster than the first said conveyor and to continue the lengthwise feed of the stream, and means to increase the speed of the stream as it passes from the first said conveyor to the said further conveyor, said means being arranged to elongate the stream while maintaining the tobacco in the form of a coherent stream, and comprising tobacco engaging elements arranged to move at substantially the same speed as that of the said further conveyor.

No references cited. 

